NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous: Pick black female justice

NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous says he wants to see President Barack Obama name an African-American woman to the Supreme Court, speaking as the president has faced criticism, including from within his own party, for a lack of diverse appointees.

“He still has several more appointments, and we expect that we’ll see at least the same diversity that we saw the first time around. What we’re hoping to see is a black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court,” Jealous told POLITICO at the BET Inaugural Gala in D.C. on Monday night.

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He mentioned California Attorney General Kamala Harris — a Democrat who is also the state’s first African-American and Indian American attorney general — as a possible SCOTUS appointee.

“Kamala Harris would be a brilliant pick. I personally would like to see somebody young who could stay on there for decades,” he said.

He continued: “If you look at what they did with [Justices] Antonin Scalia and with Clarence Thomas, we’re going to have these guys for decades. It’s time for us to [have that]. So yeah, she would be top. But there are several women who could do this job and do it well.”

Obama’s second term could see him having to appoint other Justices, with most speculation focusing on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 79, possibly retiring. Both Scalia and Justice Anthony Kennedy are 76.

Earlier this month, The New York times ran a photo and story about Obama’s Cabinet appointees being primarily white men. It sparked some — including Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) — to criticize the White House, which has defended its diversity record.

Jealous said it’s still too early to criticize Obama’s Cabinet since it is still being formed.

“At the end of the day — this president has been committed to diversity, he showed that in his first term and we owe it to him to let him finish making his appointments before we pass judgment,” Jealous said. “We want to see a Cabinet that represents the country.”